South Korea’s parliament impeaches four officials as presidential vote looms
5 December 2024, 10:54
The four will be suspended from their duties until the Constitutional Court rules whether to remove them from office.
South Korea’s parliament had voted to impeach four officials as a vote on impeaching president Yoon Suk Yeol over his martial law declaration looms.
The main opposition Democratic Party and other small opposition parties submitted a joint motion to impeach Mr Yoon on Wednesday over his martial law declaration the previous night.
On Friday, the Democrats and other opposition officials voted to impeach Choi Jae-hae, chairman of the country’s board of audit and inspection, and three top public prosecutors, including Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office chief Lee Chang-soo.
The four will be suspended from their duties until the Constitutional Court rules whether to remove them from office. Members of Mr Yoon’s ruling conservative People Power Party boycotted the votes, leaving the totals overwhelming over the threshold to impeach them.
Martial law lasted about six hours, as the National Assembly quickly voted to overrule the president, forcing his Cabinet to lift it before daybreak Wednesday.
Jo Seoung-lae, spokesperson of the Democratic Party, said it will push for a National Assembly vote on Saturday evening to provide time for ruling party politicians to make their decisions on what he described as an “unconstitutional, illegal rebellion or coup”.
On Thursday, Mr Yoon’s office said he decided to replace defence minister Kim Yong Hyun with Choi Byung Hyuk, a retired four-star general who is South Korea’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Mr Yoon’s office did not provide any further comment. He has not appeared in public since his televised announcement that martial law was lifted.
Vice defence minister Kim Seon Ho will be the acting minister until Mr Choi assumes the job after a parliamentary hearing. The hearing is a formality as the president holds the power to appoint ministers outside of the prime minister without the approval of lawmakers.
The opposition parties earlier submitted a separate motion to impeach Mr Kim, alleging he recommended that Mr Yoon impose martial law. Mr Kim had offered to resign and apologised for causing disruption and concern to the public.
Mr Kim said “all troops who performed duties related to martial law were acting on my instructions, and all responsibility lies with me”, according to the Defence Ministry.
During a parliamentary hearing on Thursday, Mr Kim said the decision to deploy troops at the National Assembly came from Kim Yong Hyun.
Army chief of staff Park An-su, who served as head of the martial law command, said he did not know how the troops were sent to parliament.
Mr Kim also said he wasn’t informed about Mr Yoon’s decision to impose martial law until the announcement was reported by the media.
He said he didn’t know who wrote the military proclamation announced after Mr Yoon’s martial law declaration, which stated that the activities of political parties would be suspended.
Mr Park said he proposed a legal review of the proclamation to Kim Yong Hyun, and Mr Kim said a review had been completed.
“I had fundamentally opposed the deployment of troops over this martial law and I expressed a negative opinion about it,” Mr Kim said. “I would like to apologise to our citizens once again, and, on a personal level, I feel devastated.”
Prosecutors in Seoul said they imposed an overseas travel ban on Kim Yong Hyun on Thursday.
The impeachment motion against Mr Yoon was introduced in parliament early Thursday, meaning it can be put to a vote between Friday and Sunday.
It will be scrapped if it is not voted on within 72 hours of its parliamentary introduction, but a new motion can be submitted if the current one is scrapped or voted down, according to National Assembly officials.
